analyzing-compiled-python-malware

A static-analysis guide for examining Windows executables that contain packaged Python code, such as files made with PyInstaller or py2exe. It helps locate the embedded Python modules without running the file.

In plain words
What is it for?
Use it to identify the packaging tool, find the embedded archive, extract compiled Python modules, and prepare them for decompilation in an isolated environment.
Why use it?
It helps you inspect suspicious Python malware when normal source code is hidden inside an executable. The analysis stays safer by treating the file as data rather than starting it.

Skill for Claude CodeCodex

Install

Getting it into your agent

One page per mod, every tool's command on it. A separate URL per tool would split the same page into five that compete with each other.

agentmods
npx agentmods add skills/meltedinhex/analyst-ai-pack/analyzing-compiled-python-malware
Any agent
npx skills add meltedinhex/analyst-ai-pack --skill analyzing-compiled-python-malware
Clone the repo
git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/meltedinhex/analyst-ai-pack

Made for: Claude Code, Codex.

Per session 76 Skills are progressive disclosure: only the name and description are preloaded; the body loads when the skill is used.
When invoked 735 The whole file, excluding the scripts and references it only reads on demand.
Security scan A 0 findings. Scan, not verified.
Origin original No closer match found in the catalogue.
Token cost

What it costs to keep this loaded

Counted locally with the o200k_base tokenizer, which is exact for GPT models; Claude uses its own tokenizer and its counts differ. Treat this as one consistent yardstick across the catalogue rather than a bill. Prices are per million input tokens.

ModelPer sessionOnce invoked
Fable 5 $0.00076 $0.00735
Opus 5 $0.00038 $0.00367
Sonnet 5 $0.00015 $0.00147
Haiku 4.5 $0.00008 $0.00073

Measured 2d ago against content hash c710a0ae28bc, method: parsed. Prices are Anthropic first-party input rates as of 2026-08-30, from the pricing page.

Security

Grade A, and why

analyzing-compiled-python-malware scanned grade A with 0 findings against 26 rules in 11 categories — prompt injection, anti-refusal, data exfiltration, privilege escalation, supply chain, agent snooping, system-prompt leakage, SSRF and excessive agency — measured 2d ago.

The scan reads SKILL.md. This mod also ships 1 executable file (scripts/analyst.py), listed below but not scanned — reading those needs a real analyzer, not pattern matching.

A static scan of the body, not an audit. Every finding is printed with the line that produced it so you can judge whether it matters here. A mod is markdown that instructs an agent; that is exactly why what it instructs is worth reading.

Nothing flagged

None of the 26 patterns this scan looks for appear in this file: no shell pipes, no recursive deletes, no credential paths, no hidden text, no instruction-override or anti-refusal phrasing, no agent-config snooping. That is not a guarantee, it is the absence of the things that are checkable.

skills/analyzing-compiled-python-malware/SKILL.md · 90 lines

How it starts

The opening of the file, as written. The whole thing — 90 lines — stays where its author put it; the contents beside it link to each section on GitHub.

Analyzing Compiled Python Malware

When to Use

  • You have an executable that is actually a frozen Python app (PyInstaller, py2exe, cx_Freeze) and need to identify the packer and locate the embedded Python modules.
  • You want to extract .pyc files for decompilation.

Do not use this to run the executable — it identifies and locates the embedded archive statically. Decompile extracted .pyc in an isolated environment.

Prerequisites

  • The frozen executable (read inertly).

Safety & Handling

  • Read bytes statically; treat extracted modules as malicious until reviewed.

Workflow

Step 1: Detect the packer

python scripts/analyst.py detect sample.exe

Looks for PyInstaller markers (pyi-, PYZ-00.pyz, the MEI CArchive cookie MEI\014\013\012\013\016), py2exe (PYTHONSCRIPT, zipfile.zip), and embedded python3x.dll references.

Step 2: Locate the embedded archive

Find the CArchive cookie near the end of the file and report the offset and the embedded Python version string (python3.x).

Step 3: Extract and decompile

Use a PyInstaller extractor to dump the archive, then decompile .pyc (matching the detected Python version) for source recovery.

Step 4: Analyze the source

Review the recovered Python for C2, persistence, and capability; map to ATT&CK.

Validation

  • The packer is identified by its specific marker, not just the presence of Python strings.
  • The CArchive cookie offset and Python version are reported when PyInstaller is present.
  • Findings distinguish the bootloader stub from the embedded Python payload.

Pitfalls

  • .pyc version mismatch breaking decompilation — match the interpreter version.
  • Stripped/obfuscated bytecode (e.g., custom magic) needing header repair before decompiling.
  • Encrypted PYZ archives (PyInstaller --key) requiring the key.

References

Read the full file on GitHub · 90 lines

Files

What ships with it

3 files beside SKILL.md in the same directory: the scripts, references and assets a skill reads on demand. Not counted in the per-session cost; read them before you install if any of them is executable.

Changes

What this file has done since we first saw it

Hashed on every crawl. A supply-chain change to an agent config is a question of when, not whether, so the history is kept rather than the latest state alone.

  1. 2d ago First seen · 90 lines · 76 tokens per session scan A c710a0ae28bc

Subscribe to this mod's changes

analyzing-compiled-python-malware is a skill published in the GitHub repository meltedinhex/analyst-ai-pack (22 stars, last pushed 1mo ago), licensed Apache-2.0. It adds 76 tokens to every session and 735 once invoked, about $0.0004 per session on Opus 5. A static security scan graded it A with 0 findings. No closer match exists in the catalogue, so it is treated as the original; first seen 2026-08-30.

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